Auxiliary transmission



Nov. 8,1949 G. B. SHERMAN ETAL. A J

AUXILIARY TRANSMISSION Filed March 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l m t ik l l I?) E x 1949 G. B. SHERMAN ETAL, EAfiWfifi AUXILIARY TRANSMI SS ION Filed March 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J a "7 VF w as E MM Nov. 1;, mo

AUXILIABY TBQNSMISSION George B. Sherman and Hubert M. Clark, Detroit, Mich., asaignors, by mesne assignments, to Sherman Industries, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application March as, 1946, Serial No. 657,729 5 Claims. (Cl. 74- 45) This invention relates to auxiliary transmissions and more particularly to transmissions for use with tractors and the like to supplement the speed range provided by the usual transmission thereon.

Certain types of tractors being manufactured and sold at the present time are provided with selective three speed forward and reverse transmissions. It has been found .that these transmissions do not provide suflicient flexibility of control for the eiiicient performance of various types of operations ranging from heavy plowing to hauling on highways. These tractors are furthermore equipped with power take-offdrives which are ordinarily connected to the transmission countershaft to be driven thereby. For

many types of operations the overall gear ratio between the engine and countershaft is too high for eflicient use of the power take-off drive. It is accordingly one of the objects of the present invention to provide an auxiliary transmission for use with tractors or the like which can be attached to a tractor to supplement the ratios provided by the standard transmission thereby to increase the flexibility of the tractor. Ac-

cording to one feature of the invention the aux-' transmission which forms a self-contained unit constructed to be easily mounted in a standard transmission housing. v

Still another object is to provide an auxiliary transmission illustrating the mounting thereof.

- in the standard transmission housing; and

transmission which can easily be shifted to pro- Figure 3 is an end view with parts in section of the auxiliary transmission.

The transmission of the invention is shown in Figure 1 :mounted in a standard conventional tractor structure including a transmission housing indicated generally at In divided by a transverse. web i I and carrying at its top a cover plate I: through which a standard shift lever l3 extends. The transmission is adapted to be driven by a driving gear M which meshes a large gear IS on a countershaft IS. The transmission driven shaft, as shown at IT, has a pilot bearing in the driving gear l4 and has slidably splined thereto a compound gear cluster l8 and a. pinion I9. The gear cluster I8 is adapted to be shifted by a fork 2| which is engaged by the shift lever l3, and the pinion l9 may be similarly shifted by a fork 22. When the compound gear is shifted to the left a small pinion part thereon will engage a gear 23' on the countershaft, and when it is shifted to the right, a large gear thereon will engage teeth 24 on the countershaft. This provides two forward speed ratios and a. third forward speed ratio may be obtained by shifting the pinion l9 into engagement with a gear 25 on the countershaft. For reverse the pinion I9 may be shifted to the left to engage an idler ear meshing with the teeth 24. Thus the transmission provides three forward speeds and one reverse speed.

As shown, the transmission is provided with a power take-off device including a clutch collar 20 slidably splined on the end of a power take-of! shaft, not shown, and formed to engage clutch teeth 21 on the end of the countershaft It. The clutch collar 26 may be shifted through a yoke 28 either to the disengaged position shown orto a power take-off driving position in which the clutch collar engages the teeth 21 on the, countershaft. It will .be noted that the countershaft can be driven both when the main transmission is in gear to drive the tractor and when the main transmission is in its neutral position shown to drive only the countershaft.

Drive from the engine of the tractor to the transmission is through a standard friction clutch indicated generally at 30 which is controlled by a clutch throw out ring 30' operated through a collar 29. The collar is engaged by a yoke 3| mounted on a clutch shaft 32 and which may be turned to disengage the clutch. In the standard construction the clutch is connected to thetransmission by a clutch shaft which carries enemas a gear similar to the gear l4. With this construction it will be seen that three forward and one reverse driving ratios can be obtained and one ratio from the engine.

According to the present invention, the number of driving ratios and the speed of the power take-off can be increased by providing an auxiliary transmission mounted in the standard transmission housing and connecting the clutch to the standard selective transmission. As shown, the auxiliary transmission replaces the usual clutch shaft and comprises a closed housing 33 formed at one end with an outwardly projecting annular flange 34 to flt into an opening in the web II which normally carries a bearing for the clutch shaft. The casing 33 may be accurately located by the flange 34 and may be secured in place by cap screws 35 which thread into tapped openingsin the web II to secure the casing thereto. The flange 34 may be of a size and shape to replace the standard bearing ring normally fitting into the web opening so that no changes in the transmission housing are required to mount the auxiliary transmission.

The flange 34 carries a bearing 35 which supports a driven shaft 31 on which the driving gear I4 is carried. The shaft 31 extends into the casing and is supported at its opposite end by a pilot bearing 38 in the end of a driving shaft 39. The driving shaft extends through. an elongated sleeve 41 secured to the casing 33 and may be supported by a bearing 42 in the casing. At its inner end the driving shaft 39 carries a driving gear 43 formed with a clutch flange 44. The gear 43 meshes with a gear 45 on a countershaft which also carries a gear 46. A shiftable gear element 41 is splined on the driven shaft 31 and is formed at one end with a clutch part to engage the clutch flange 44 directly to connect the shafts.

The member 41 also has a pinion part adapted to mesh with the gear 46. As shown, the gears 43 and 45 are the same size and gear 46 is larger than gear 41 so that the driven shaft will rotate faster than the driving shaft when gears 46 and 41 are in mesh.

The gear member 41 may be shifted by a yoke 48 carried by a shift rod 49 which is slidable in the casing 33. The rod 49 may be formed with annular grooves to be engaged by the usual spring detent to hold the rod in any one of three positions to provide neutral, direct drive or over drive. The rod is adapted to be shifted by a shift arm 52 connected to the rod and carried by a shifter shaft 53 which is journaled in a boss 54 on the sleeve 41. The shaft 53 extends through an opening in the side of the transmission housing In and carries a shift lever 55 lying adjacent the side of the transmission housing for easy access by an operator. For installation of the auxiliary transmission of the invention, it is necessary to drill a hole through the transmission housing for the shaft 53, this being the only change in the standard construction required.

At its outer end the driving shaft 39 is formed to connect to the clutch 30 in the same manner as the standard clutch shaft. When the auxiliary transmission is installed, the clutch collar 29 may be slidably mounted on the end of the sleeve 4| and springs 56 may be providedconnected to the casing 33 and to the clutch collar to urge it to clutch engaging position.

that the power take-off is driven through only It will be seen that the auxiliary transmission of the present invention can be easily and quickly installed on a standard tractor with a minimum 4 of changes in the standard tractor construction. When so installed the auxiliary trammission will double the number of driving ratios provided by the standard transmissionthereby increasing the flexibility of the tractor and further enabling the speed of the power take-off to be increased.

.111 a typical installation the standard transmission provides three forward speeds at an engine speed of 1400 R. P. M. of respectively 2.51, 3.23 and 7.48 miles per hour. With the auxiliary transmission installed these ratios are all retained when the auxiliary transmission is connected for direct drive. In addition by providing an auxiliary transmission ratio of 1.56:1 when the gears 45 and 41 are in mesh, tractor speeds of 3.92, 5.04 and 11.68 miles per hour are provided. It will be seen that these ratios are highly desirable for many types of operations where a speed of more than three and less than seven miles per *hour are desired as, for example, in certain cultivating and like operations. The maximum ratio providing 11.68 miles per hour is also highly useful for such operations as hauling where a relatively high speed is desirable. In addition to these advantages the supplemental transmission enables the power take-off to be operated approximately one and one-half times as fast as the standard power take-off which is extremely useful for various types of uses.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary transmission for use on a tractor having a driving motor, a transmission housing, a selective transmission in the housing, a clutch, and a clutch shaft connecting the clutch to the transmission, the auxiliary transmission being formed to replace the clutch shaft and comprising a casing, a closure plate detachably connected to one end of the casing, an annular projecting flange on the closure plate adapted to fit into an opening in the housing through which the clutch shaft normally extends thereby to mount the closure plate, means to connect the casing to the closure plate, a driven shaft extending through said flange, a driving shaft aligned with the driven shaft and extending from the opposite end of the casing and adapted to connect to the clutch, gearing in the casing to connect the shafts, a sleeve on the casing in which the driving shaft is journaled, and shift means to shift the gearing thereby to change the driving ratio between the shafts.

2. An auxiliary transmission for use on a tractor having a driving motor, a transmission housing, a selective transmission in the housing, a clutch, and a clutch shaft connecting the clutch to the transmission, the auxiliary transmission being formed to replace the clutch shaft and comprising a casing, an annular projecting flange at one end of the casing, adapted to fit into an opening in the housing through .which the clutch shaft normally extends thereby to mount the casing, a driven shaft extending through said flange, a driving shaft aligned with the driven shaft and extending from the opposite end of the casing to connect to the clutch, gearing in the casing and adapted to connect the shafts, an elongated sleeve carried by the casing around the driving shaft, a clutch collar slidable on the sleeve to control the clutch, a shifter shaft pivoted on the sleeve of a length to extend through the housing, and means including a shift rod extending into the casing connecting the shifter shaft to the gearing to shift it.

3. In combination with a tractor having a driving motor, a clutch connected to the motor, a

transmission housing, a selective gear transmission in the housing including a driving gear, a countershaft connected to the driving gear, a driven shaft, and shiftable gear means to connect the driven shaft to the countershaft, and a power take-off device connected to the countershaft, an auxiliary transmission connecting the clutch to the driving gear and comprising a casing, means on the casing to mount it in the transmission housing, an auxiliary driven shaft extending from one end of the casing and carrying the driving gear, an auxiliary driving shaft extending from the other end of the casing to connect to the clutch, and shiftable gearing in the casing to connect the auxiliary driving and driven shafts directly or to drive the auxiliary driven shaft faster than the auxiliary driving shaft thereby to turn the driving gear at a speed in excess of engine speed.

4. An auxiliary transmission for use with tractors or the like comprising a casing, an annular flange projecting from one end of the casing for mounting it in a transmission housing, an elongated sleeve projecting from the other end of the casing coaxial with the flange, a driven shaft extending through the flange and carrying a transmission driving gear outside of the casing, a driving shaft extending through the sleeve, shiftable gear means in the casing to connect the driving and driven shafts, a shift rod slidable in the casing to shift the gearing. and a shift crank pivoted on the sleeve and connected to the rod to shift it.

5. An auxiliary transmission for use with tractors or the like, comprising a casing, an annular flange projecting from one end of the casing for mounting it in a transmission housing, an elongated sleeve projecting from the other end of the casing coaxial with the flange, a driven shaft extending through the flange and carrying a transmission driving gear outside of the casing, a driving shaft extending through the sleeve, the driving shaft extending beyond the sleeve and being formed for connection to a clutch, the sleeve being formed slidably to support a clutch operating collar, shiftable gear means in the casing to connect the shafts, and means to shift the gear means to change the driving ratio between the shafts.

GEORGE B. SHERMAN. HUBERT M. CLARK REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,732,184 Wells Nov. 18, 1930 2,085,805 Jessen July 6, 1937 2,135,042 Rossman Nov. 1, 1938 2,231,966 Swennes Feb. 18, 1941 2,241,002 Peterson May 6, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 301,232 Italy Sept. 29, 1932 

